Josh Brolin recalls losing the Batman role to Ben Affleck: That would have been a fun deal

Josh Brolin, best recognised for playing Marvel supervillain Thanos, recently revealed that he was once in the running to play Batman but Ben Affleck beat him to it.

While talking to the Happy Sad Confused podcast, Brolin said that his version of the Caped Crusader would have been "older, more raspy (sic)," had director Zack Snyder given him a chance.

"That was interesting to me," the actor confessed while adding that he was keen on the role but Snyder had other plans. "That was his decision — that wasn’t my decision. That was his decision," he added.

Brolin explained that he was excited by the prospect of playing the comic book hero because it would have demanded reinvention and risk. He said that he's the kind of actor who likes "something that is set up to not work at all, or to work flyingly", and that he liked "playing with those odds."

The actor also shared his vision for the character who would have been older. He joked that maybe he'll play Batman when he's 80.

The Hollywood Reporter adds that Brolin has discussed losing out on the role to Affleck before in 2018 but said that he was glad the deal did not pan out. 

Affleck played Bruce Wayne aka Batman for four movies — Batman v Superman, Dawn of Justice, Suicide Squad and Justice League — before stepping down from the role in 2017. He will reprise his role in The Flash, which is set to release on June 23, 2023. Robert Pattinson played the latest version of the superhero in Matt Reeves' directorial.

Meanwhile, Brolin was last seen in Denis Villeneuve's theatrical adaptation of Dune which also stars Timothée Chalamet, Zendaya, and Oscar Isaac. Filming of a sequel will begin at Warner Bros in June. The actor's new release is the Amazon Prime Video series Outer Range where he plays a rancher.